Gulf Council Reef Fish members approve emergency rule reducing recreational red snapper season to 11 days

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council Reef Fish Committee voted in favor of an emergency rule that would result in an 11-day red snapper season this summer.

Taking an emergency action became necessary in the wake of a federal court decision, which in essence said that the federal management of red snapper in the Gulf violated various standards set forth in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Management Act and was therefore illegal.

The committee's recommendation is scheduled for a full council vote on Thursday.

A U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia judge ruled in favor of a group of commercial fishermen, who claimed in a June 2013 lawsuit that the NMFS erred when it allowed recreational red snapper fishermen to exceed their portion of the combined quota in six of the last seven years without holding the sector accountable for those overages.

The court also found that NMFS did not use the best available science when it allowed recreational fishermen to have a 14-day fall season last year despite catch estimates based on new Marine Recreational Information Program data that appeared to indicate the sector had already exceeded its 2013 quota share during the 28-day June season.

NMFS Southeast Office Regional Administrator Roy Crabtree said the revised 2014 season lengths included several waves of the new MRIP data.

The 11-day season option preferred by the council is based on a recreational sector quota of 5.39 million pounds of the total combined quota of 11 million pounds. It includes, however, a 20-percent buffer that reduces the sector's allowable catch limit to 4.312 million pounds.

NMFS estimates suggest that even at this reduced ACL, there is still a 15 percent chance that the recreational sector would exceed its 2014 quota allocation.

Crabtree said, however, in light of the lawsuit, he believed the 15 percent probability was a "defensible" number especially considering that the 20 percent buffer was already part of the fishery management plan used to determine season length.

Other alternatives included no buffer, which would have resulted in a 17-day season, but also a 50-percent probability that the recreational sector would have exceeded its quota.

A 30-percent buffer would have meant a recreational quota of 3.773 million pounds, an 8-day season and a 5 percent probability that the sector would have had an overrun.

At 40 percent, the recreational sector would have had an allowable catch set at 3.234 million pounds, resulting in a 5-day season and a less than 1 percent probability that it would have had an overage.

With a 60 percent buffer, there would not have been a federal season because managers estimated the resulting 1.889 million pound recreational quota would be landed from water off states such as Louisiana, Florida and Texas that schedule seasons inconsistent with federal seasons.

Each of the other buffers besides 20 percent was also chosen for a reason and not just pulled out of the air.

In 2012, it's estimated the recreational sector exceeded its quota by 30 percent.

The 40-percent number comes from the average combined overage that has occurred in six of the past seven years.

There remains uncertainty surrounding the council's preferred alternative included in the emergency rule since Florida's marine resources commission is not expected to reveal its plans for a red snapper season until it meets next Wednesday.

The full council may also consider a proposal to reduce the daily bag limit to one fish per day this year. Council staff was not anticipating such a proposal so did not have an analysis of how many fishing days such a reduction would add to the 2014 season.

That analysis is expected to be ready by the time the Reef Fish Committee report is presented to the council on Thursday.

Crabtree was also quick to point out that the emergency rule only satisfies the court's ruling for this year and that the council will have to undertake the task of implementing additional long-term accountability measures on the recreational sector.

NMFS has assured the court that changes for 2014 would be in place by May 15. It has also committed to having the long-term accountability measures in place by April 2015.

How those measures and the new MRIP data and models impact seasons beyond this year are unknown, Crabtree said.

Updated to include information on the proposal to reduce the daily bag limit to one fish per day for 2014.